Have you ever wondered why you have to keep up fulfilling society’s expectations in every single move? Are you tired of walking around and getting catcalled every time you go out on the street?
Sexual harassment is part of the day to day basis of a society driven by men. It’s something you can’t escape from. It is a disgusting and stomach-churning part of living in a society where men take the lead. They have turned women into objects for their own pleasure. They don’t see women as humans, but as beings to satisfy their needs. This makes them feel entitled to act as if women were their possessions. They delude themselves with illusions of gallantry, believing they can win women women over through macho attitudes and wordplay. Yet, what they’re doing is an act of violence. And every so often, there comes a female who shouts that she’s had enough.
Venus Libido is one of those women. To resist against this system of constant sexualization, she left her career and turned to illustration and design. She deals with her own personal trauma through her acidic, humorous work. Conveying the repulsiveness of patriarchal society, she draws women who suffer from this societal affliction, but also some who manage to counter it by leading their lives against it.
Movies, advertising, and TV shows have created an overtly sexualized construction of women. However, they don’t —and shouldn’t— try to approach those stereotypes, since they’re as fictional as a mermaids. Constantly flooding society with images that are supposed to model our lives is, in fact, a way to keep us engaged to the interests of the powerful. The raw power of art gives us a tool for resistance.
In Venus Libido’s work, she shows the beastly side of a society that is violent towards women. In a sense, her pieces serve a cathartic purpose. Painfully autobiographical, she allows viewers to feel the constant repulsion regarding the incessant objectification of a woman, and how this messes with her own psychology.
The characters in Libido’s cartoonish vignettes seem as if they had been profoundly wounded by society. However, in spite of their vulnerable nature, she also portrays women who have been able to get rid, or even turned against the oppressive forces they have to face on a regular level. In this sense, the everyday domestic reality she displays through her pictures also portrays an act of resistance.
It’s as if these illustrations were an aggressive response against the constant control of the bodies of men and women. Some of her characters are growing hair all over their arms and legs. We can even see a woman who’s growing a beard, or perhaps a man who’s in the process of becoming a woman. But in all of these simple, day to day pictures, these characters do something that goes against the rules of the establishment. Even though some of them appear to be disturbed, one thing is for sure: they’re all fed up with putting up with the standards and narrative of a society that has oppressed them to the point of depression and misery. Her messy characters lift a middle finger towards the schemes that have had them against the wall since birth. They’re the expression of defiance just by the fact of not complying with society’s expectations and claiming autonomy over their own selves.
The women who appear in Venus Libido’s illustrations are neither sensual nor alluring. However, their passive-aggressive stance on everything society expects from them makes them look genuinely raunchy. They’re not the kind of people who need someone staring at them to feel assured.
And if someone does stare, they might as well just turn them into stone.
***
Venus Libido is an artist from South England who bases her works on the nasty experiences she lived through while working as a decorator in London. The purpose of her illustrations is to defend the women’s right to live in peace. Besides speaking out against the horrific state of our society, her work also focuses on mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and being uncomfortable in one’s own body. You can find more of her work on Tumblr and Instagram.
***
References
Curated By Girls